The IEEE Computer Society team
While cryptocurrency, Web-3, Metaverse, blockchain and other cutting-edge technologies seem to have emerged overnight, blockchain has been around since the early 2000s. IN blockchain industry is expected to grow by 68.4% by 2026 due to increased public interest, venture capital and investment money, cybersecurity needs and new government initiatives.
As a basis for the unchanging and decentralized recording of transactions, the blockchain offers security, transparency and autonomy for transactions without a central authority. Designed as a peer-to-peer network with a timestamp for authentication, each block in the blockchain is connected, forwarding the contents of the previous block and creating an unbreakable chain.
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Blockchain was created by the inventor of bitcoin Satoshi Nakamoto, a mysterious figure in the history of cryptocurrencies in its current form. However, the earliest components of the blockchain date from the work of David Chaum, 1979, the “godfather of cryptocurrency”, and his vault system, which describes a distributed computer system that offers public records and protects the privacy of individuals through physical security.
Today, most financial institutions are either currently using or actively researching blockchain applications; in 2015, visaone of the world’s largest payment processors was part of a $ 30 million investment in Chain.com, a blockchain developer. Barclays quietly tests smart contracts and files specific blockchain patents, and American Express works to integrate blockchain technology into its membership rewards program.
Read “On the Origins and Variations of Blockchain Technology” by IEEE Security and Privacy to learn more about the five key elements of the blockchain, its earliest origins, and the four crucial roles of common blockchain players. Discover how blockchain solves a variety of real-world problems and tackles the need for indelible ledgers in today’s digital age.
